Peace. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you... Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (nor let it be fearful) John 14:27
Peace of God which passeth all understanding... Philippians 4:7
Peace.
What is peace, anyway?
Is it when all the house is put in order, clean and toys put away?
Is it when the children are playing nicely and getting along with each other?
Is it when relationships are connecting and we get each other?
Is it when someone sees a need and meets it, we feel peace?
Is it when we are getting our things done in a timely manner?
But what if that is not what is reality?
What if all feels chaotic and stormy?
The children call for me, ONE MORE TIME.
The boys fight. One tattles on another.
The phone rings, there's another meal to make...
I get mad...
Peace??
What does Jesus mean when He says "Peace, I leave with you, not as the world giveth?" or a Peace of Mine which passes understanding?
That doesn't give me the picture that all is going smoothly and in order.
So, my question is, what does peace really mean in the eyes of Jesus.
Jesus often said as He was with the disciples, "Peace, be still." The storm was raging, the air boistrous, people were afraid and when Jesus was present, He commanded peace.
I remember one morning as I was filling in for a teacher at school, we were singing and the teacher leading the songs led a song taken from John 14 - Peace I leave with you... not as the world giveth, give I you..; and I, being right smack dab in the middle of a painful and disappointing relationship struggle was struck with that phrase - not as the world giveth, give I you...
PEACE.
Mr. Webster defines peace as -1) freedom from disagreement or quarrels, harmony, serenity, law and order 2) freedom from wars, a treat or an agreement to end a war, make one's peace, reconciliation, end hostilities, settle arguments 3) peace of mind - calm, quiet 4) hold one's peace, silence.
Looking at this definition -points 1&3; would seem like yes, it's when the house is all in order and relationships are connecting that we have peace.
(I will look at #2 in another post)
The world's peace is where all is in order and I have it all under control. It's a peace where life feels good.
But Jesus tells us He is giving a peace that is different.
In John 16:33 He tells us "In the world there is conflict; but IN ME there is peace."
In Jesus! Did you get that?! In Jesus there is peace. HE IS PEACE.
When we know WHOSE we are (right in the middle of the storm or battle) we can have peace, because we HAVE JESUS!
Isaiah 26:3, "Thou wilt keep him in PERFECT PEACE whose MIND is
STAYED ON THEE, because he TRUSTED IN THEE."
Matthew 14:22-32
When Peter said, "Lord, if it's You, let me walk on the water"... As long as he was focused on Jesus, right in the middle of the storm, HE WALKED. The minute he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the storm, he began to sink.
When we focus on Jesus, the storm takes a back seat, and we are confident in Him.
That's Jesus' peace. Jesus is giving us Himself. He is Peace.
We take our pain, our storm, our disappointments and failures to Jesus; laying them at His feet and fixing our eyes on Him. He brings perspective and calm to our hearts as we trust Him and choose to believe His heart is good intended towards us. He gives us, HIMSELF.
He, Who is strong enough.
He, Who is big enough.
He, Who loves us much.
He. Himself. His grace. His strength. Himself.
That is a peace which passes ALL understanding.
- Peter walking on stormy waters.
- Rest in the spirit, while a relationship continues to hurt.
- Forgiveness to the one who has hurt us.
- Calmness and perspective in the middle of busyness.
Because we know who we are in Him.
Do you know who you are in Jesus?
Jesus defines us with His Love.
In Him we are loved, accepted and belong! And when that grips our hearts, we can 'walk' on the stormy waters of rejection, chaos, brokenness. THEY DO NOT NEED TO DEFINE US!
GOD DOES!!!
Having said that, I am not saying it doesn't hurt or that we glibly go along in life; I'm saying that pain should not define us, it should be a stepping stone to Jesus. A gateway to sitting at His feet and learning more of Him.
Sometimes we feel more like the disciples in Mark 4:38-39 ...
As the disciples were rowing, Jesus was sleeping and a storm came up. The waves were high and filling the boat with water. The disciples panicked and Jesus continued to sleep. Finally, they could take it no longer and woke Jesus up shouting, Master, Teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown?
Jesus awoke, stood up and rebuked the wind, "Peace, be still." The wind stopped and there was a great calm.
Then Jesus turns to the disciples and asks them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
With Jesus in the boat, He would've taken care of the disciples, it just wasn't looking like they wanted it to.
I believe Jesus wanted them to trust Him, to ride the storm with peace in their heart, because Peace was with them. They forgot that. Or maybe they didn't understand Jesus yet... because it says the disciples were terrified, "Who is this Man? even the wind and waves obey Him"
We have this story to remind us to ride with Jesus, trusting that He will save us in His way. Trusting that He does notice our storm, even though it may feel like He is sleeping (Psalm 121:3-4 says He never slumbers nor sleep)
The Peace of Jesus often doesn't look like we want it to ...
but may our storm cause us to ask Him to show us His Greater Truth and shed His Light of Truth on our pain or battle.
The peace of Jesus is not a calm life; but a life who Jesus calms in the midst of storm and battle. - Judith Lapp
